Wildlife Conservation Kenya Project #45842

Safeguarding Ol Pejeta's Rhino Populations

by Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Project Report | Apr 7, 2022
Rhino Numbers Rising!

By Amber Thacker | Project Leader

When Kenya halted international travel to prevent the spread of Covid-19, our future became uncertain. However, you helped us when we needed it most. Your generous support has allowed us to keep our core operations running and our rhinos protected.

Here on the Conservancy, there is no better sight than a newborn rhino calf. We are pleased to confirm that our rhino populations continue to grow, with a significant number of births reported in the last few weeks.

Rhino Populations

Black Rhino: 160
Southern White Rhino: 40
Northern White Rhino: 2

Black rhinos were almost poached to extinction. Today, they are listed as Critically Endangered. However, thanks to your continued support and our highly skilled anti-poaching team, our black rhino population continues to thrive.

Black rhinos, also known as ‘hook-lipped rhinos’ have poor vision but sharp hearing and sense of smell. Except for mothers with calves, black rhinos tend to be solitary.

Here on Ol Pejeta Conservancy, we have successfully grown our black rhino population from 20 to 160 in three decades.

Southern white rhinos are celebrated as a conservation success story, having been brought back from the brink of extinction.

Southern white rhinos, also known as square-lipped rhinos use their wide mouth for grazing. They have complex social structures and are typically less aggressive than black rhinos.

Anti-Poaching Operation

Our highly trained rhino protection squads work tirelessly to keep our rhinos safe. Using ear notches and other distinguishing features, our dedicated ranger team aim to identify each rhino every four days. If a particular rhino has not been sighted for four days, a dedicated team is sent to search for them. Your donations have enabled us to continue funding our anti-poaching operation and we will be forever grateful.

Northern White Rhinos

Najin and Fatu, the world’s last two northern white rhinos require around-the-clock armed protection. Your compassion and generous support have allowed us to continue protecting and caring for Najin and Fatu. In our effort to save the species from extinction, we have now successfully created 14 northern white rhino embryos, which will later be introduced into surrogate southern white rhinos.

Looking Ahead

When you responded to our Emergency Appeal, your compassion, generosity, and kindness saved us. However, we are not out of the woods yet. Whilst increasing, international tourism has not bounced back to the level we had hoped. Our need to fundraise to keep our rhinos protected remains crucial.

We hope you can visit us one day to see the impact of your support. Thank you from the entire Ol Pejeta team.

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Dec 16, 2021
Thank You

By Amber Thacker | Project Leader

Photograph by William Fortescue

It has been a busy year for Ol Pejeta and one of the hardest in living memory due to the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic.

Your support is truly inspiring and has enabled us to continue our vital work on the ground, ensuring our rhinos remain protected.

Since our last Emergency Appeal update in mid-August, you have helped us raise an incredible $60,312 to continue safeguarding our rhino populations. Thank you from everyone here on Ol Pejeta.

Kenya conserves 75% of the Critically Endangered eastern black rhino. In the early 1970s the population stood at approximately 20,000 but a rapid decline, driven by industrial-scale poaching, saw this number reduce to approximately 350 by the late 1980s. Our anti-poaching operation is highly successful, evidenced by zero poaching during the last four years. Our state-of-the-art technology lab, combined with our world-class veterinary support, K9 Unit and skilled ranger team have enabled us to successfully grow our black rhino population from 20 to almost 150 in three decades. Sadly, the threat of poaching is once-again increasing, and we must remain ever vigilant to protect our precious rhinos.

Our internationally recognized rhino conservation program also helps to conserve other endangered or vulnerable species such as African wild dog, cheetah, lion, hippo, Beisa oryx, Grevy’s zebra and the locally threatened Jackson’s Hartebeest.

Covid-19 is by far the biggest challenge we have ever had to face. The constant change to international travel restrictions continues to have a devastating impact on our tourism revenue. As a result, we remain almost entirely dependent on the generous support of our donors and partners. With the Omicron variant now taking hold across the world, our future is again becoming increasingly uncertain.

Despite the ruinous impact of the global pandemic, we have been humbled by the profound support of our generous donors like yourself. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Best wishes,

Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Photograph by William Fortescue

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Aug 18, 2021
Thank You for Keeping our Rhinos Safe

By Amber Thacker | Project Leader

We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you! You continue to support us when we need it most and we are extremely grateful.

Together, you have raised $65,000 towards our project to safeguard Ol Pejeta’s rhino population, since our last report in April 2021.

Your gift meant that we were able to continue:

Protecting our black rhino population, which require 24-hour surveillance by our dedicated team of rangers.
Providing for Baraka, our blind rhino who requires around the clock support and protection.
Running our veterinary unit, which frequently responds to emergency calls to treat injured animals.
Protecting wildlife which includes a range of endangered species such as Grevy’s zebra, elephant, lion and Beisa oryx.
Maintaining zero poaching on the conservancy.
Working to keep our neighbors safe with our Emergency Response Team, who deals quickly and efficiently with human/wildlife conflict and crime.
Keeping our conservation heroes including our rangers, K9 team, rhino caregivers and chimpanzee caregivers employed.

We are humbled that you chose to support us during these challenging times. You are a true wildlife guardian, and you should be proud of your impact.

However, we are not out of the woods yet. The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Kenya on Friday 13th March 2020. Over 1 ½ years later, the virus continues to manifest itself across the country and the government continues to impose local restrictions, including curfews to prevent further spread of the virus. Although we recognize the need to limit travel, this has caused further devastation to Kenya’s already collapsed tourism industry. Tourism revenues represented the majority of our income in 2019. Now, many of our tented camps, guest houses and accommodation are vacant. This means that we are almost entirely dependent on donors like yourself.

As we do not anticipate international travel to return in any meaningful way until late 2022., we are tremendously concerned about the next six months. Whilst we are ensuring prudency and efficiency in our expenditure, we are still working with a current deficit of over $900,000. If we stop now, everything we have achieved together, such as growing our black rhino population from 20 to 146 in three decades, risks being lost. However, we are determined to continue for our wildlife and for the benefit of people here and around the world.

We have a bumpy road ahead and our wildlife needs your support. We hope that you continue this journey with us. Thank you so much from the bottoms of our hearts. Your support means the world to us.

A huge thank you from our team!

Baraka, our blind rhino, requires 24h protection

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